Thoughts from Places: Almost a year ago

As I was looking through my Google Doc folders, and found this little gem tucked away. It's titled "Quilt Museum Updates" and I haven't touched it since August 17, 2011. It's interesting to see this preserved snapshot of my thoughts during that time in the project. I'm sharing it (picture-less) now because I feel it's worth sharing, and I'm neck-deep in a few reviews right now.
(Back to more quilt stuffs)
Enjoy this rare insight:

Alright, here's another update on my Quilt Museum Project (see related links at bottom of post), for those of you wanting to keep up.

I’ll just post a lot of pictures of progress and workspace after this message, and then the longer, description and update on the project below all that--so you aren't "forced" to read through my wordy explanations.

Feeling like I bit off more than I could chew, running at it head on like I have been. Instead of doing ~15 panels of rough sketching, then ~15 panels of inking, then painting--where I feel like I’m getting nothing done--I’m staggering it so I have many panels in each phase of progression. This way, when I finally get a few panels painted and finished, the rest will fall in order and I will feel more accomplished.

I found myself kind of wallowing in the scope of the project: not only am I completing all these panels, but other people will be recreating them, AND it’ll be in a Museum next year...It is a daunting feeling realizing this...
Found myself looking at the panels and going to read a book or play three too many games of Halo online.
One day, I started Skyping my friend in New Mexico who is also an aspiring artist. She was working on an art project, so I grabbed all my stuff and started inking along side her--3,000 miles away...
Gotta find your motivation.

When I dove into this project at the beginning of the summer, I had it all figured out: I get the measurements for everything, buy supplies, and then work through all the panels; first by rough sketching every panel, inking each, then finally painting. However, life throws some wrenches in things from time to time, and we adjust.

At first, I had to figure out calculations to see what size paper I needed and the size restrictions based on where the Quilt Museum wanted the whole piece to be displayed. I finally got everything settled, and went out to buy the paper needed. I then made a calendar of the time I had to work, and gave myself sort of "benchmark" goals to have some things finished--with a tentative finish date of August 10, and wanting my "absolute deadline" to be the end of August.

Turns out, I've missed all my self-imposed benchmark goals, but that doesn't mean I haven't been progressing. Instead of tackling everything at once in steps which felt very daunting--sketches, inking, and painting, for like 15 panels--I've decided to stagger everything: At the moment, I have several panels inked, a few roughed out, and then one or two still needing to be started completely.

With the stagger, I can work through finishing the panels and feel like I'm actually making progress, instead of being buried under the project. Being able to adapt to situations and figure out ways to motivate yourself can be very helpful.

Things I Have Learned
Time management
Planning and keeping things clean
Biggest size / scope (longest deadline)
Largest project
Most pressure
Using less painter’s tape and rubber
Steadier hand
Better paint colors and details
New techniques (Water wash, then paint)